Can flowers grow in the sand?
by Inofanfictions
Summary: When the Kazekage visits for a week from Suna, Naruto and the gang are throwing a huge party. Ino and the girls have the week off from missions aswell, resulting in some interesting mix-ups.
1. Chapter 1

I looked around at all of my friends, grinning widely. This week was our only week off from missions, and we were going to take that for granted, sleeping over at each other's houses every night. Tonight we were staying at Sakura's house, and we all just stayed up in her room talking about random things. Her room was covered in pink: her bed, her walls, her clothes, and her furniture. We all were listening to some music after playing a round of poker. I just got done braiding Tenten's hair and I picked up a magazine. Sakura was playing with Hinata's long navy hair as Tenten and I looked at the magazine. As the night carried on we watched several horror movies. Then Sakura brought up the topic of boys and we automatically just got carried away. "Ever since Sasuke left I've looked at the other boys of Konoha." We all looked around at eachother and then back at Sakura. "Well I'm gonna be honest here, no one really is that amazing... but all of the sudden Kiba has been nicer to me..."

"I did not see that coming." Tenten and I said simultaneously.

"Kiba-kun?" Hinata asked, gaping at Sakura.

"Well, he is pretty attractive, and I'm starting to really like him..." Sakura said, looking down at her dark wood floor and her bright pink carpet, while her light blue tanktop hung loosely on her body.

"Well we won't judge you for that Sakura." I said, patting her quite boney shoulder.

"Well I've always kind've loved Neji." Tenten said openly, looking around at our reactions.

"Yeah, we all kind've guessed that..." I said laughing slightly.

"I didn't!" Hinata said, her big light eyes looking at Tenten, "You love nii-san? Thats amazing!" She smiled and hugged Tenten so tightly that Tenten had a faint imprint of Hinatas torso on her light pink shirt.

"Well, lets hear it" I said, looking over at Hinata.

"Well you all know who I l-love. N-Naruto-kun." We all smiled as Hinata said this, and no one had any objections.

"So Ino..." Sakura said looking at me with her big turquoise eyes.

"We all know I'm lonely. I don't love any of the guys, they're like brothers to me and they're all kind've weird..." I said looking ashamed at not having any boy that I even like in a relationship way.

"Well its getting kind've late, let's play truth or dare while we head to sleep." Sakura said while we got up to brush our teeth. I stood there in the bathroom brushing my white teeth with a neon orange toothbrush. I washed my cute little face with cold water then returned to Sakura's room to lay out my soft red sleeping bag.

When we all finally settled down we looked around at eachother, "Ahhhh, I can't go to sleep." Tenten said, groaning from her dark green sleeping bag.

"Like I said, we should play a little bit of truth or dare." Sakura said, all of us nodding in reply. Sakura smiled, her huge white teeth forming a big smile when she looked over at Hinata instantly. "Hinata, truth or dare?"

"T-Truth." Hinata said in a small voice, stuttering slightly.

"Do you really love Naruto?" Sakura asked, an even wider smirk appearing on her face.

Hinata's face was the color of a very ripe tomato, "Y-yes, of course I-I do."

All of the girls smiled slightly, thinking about Hinata and Naruto together. "Its my turn to ask someone."

Tenten said, looking at me with a devious smirk her braids looking like devil horns, "Ino, truth or dare?"

"Dare, of course." I smiled confidently as Tenten chuckled slightly.

"Okay Ino. You know how the Kazekage is coming tomorrow and all of the guys are having a party for him and all of us are the only girls invited?" Tenten said, probably thinking of smooching it up with Neji.

'Oh god, what did I get myself into...' I thought, looking over at TenTen. "Yeah, of course I do. Its all Shikamarus been talking about, since Temari is going to be there." We all giggled slightly.

"Well you have to dance infront of all of the guys. And since you're always talking about how lonely you are, if you get the Kazekage to say I love you then we will all say those same words to the people we love. Okay?" All eyes were on me when TenTen looked around at Sakura and Hinatas horrified faces, "Don't worry, she won't do it so we have nothing to worry about."

I narrowed my eyes at Tenten, "Is that a challenge?"

"Yes. Yes it is." Tenten replied, smirking proudly.

"Tch. Challenge accepted."


	2. Chapter 2

_Ring ring ring._

The alarm rung on the nightstand next to me, hurting my ears. Her hand reached for the snooze as her dad came crashing through her door, "INO, INO, SAKURA AND THE OTHER GIRLS ARE HERE." I guess he thought I was asleep, and yelling at the top of his lungs was a good idea.

"DAD. STOP. I'M RIGHT HERE, I CAN HEAR YOU." I shouted back, throwing back my brown fluffy blanket.

"INO, DO YOU WANT BREAKFAST." He screamed back, his old wrinkly face still peering at me through my doorway.

"Dad, what are you doing?" I looked at him, hoping he didn't comment on the bags under my eyes.

"Oh… I thought we were having a moment." He looked down at the brown wooden floor, clearly embarrassed.

I laughed easily, "Dad, hand me my red flirty tanktop, I'm going to pick up some men." I said to him, pointing on the floor.

He looked at the spot in shock, "I-Ino…"

"I'm just kidding dad." I laughed loudly at my own jokes while he stood there and laughed nervously.

"Don't do that Ino! You scared me to death!" He said, looking quite aggravated.

"Either way, hand me that Aztec print sweater, I think it might be cold outside." I pointed to the sweater hanging in my closet as he walked over then threw it to me.

"I'll be out on a mission for the rest of the week, I left some food in the fridge. And… If you do have a party, clean it up." He winked sensually as he backed out of my door, chuckling to himself. My hand went up to my face as I sighed loudly. I put on my makeup especially cute and brushed my long golden hair, putting my hair up in its usual ponytail. I slipped on the sweatshirt over a silky red bra, while putting on light blue short-short jeans. I flew down the stairs, grabbing a mint and throwing it in my mouth on the way. I slipped on a pair on plain black shoes, shutting the door loudly behind me. Well, last nights at Sakura's house I told her that I had to go wish my dad goodbye, but I never came back. Oops? I ran up to her house, running into Kiba and Akamaru on the way.

"Hey Kiba and Akamaru, party at my place at 7 o'clock sharp!" I yelled as I ran by him. He looked at me with a smirk and a nod, akamaru giving a sharp bark. I'll guess that's a yes. I also ran into numerous other guys: Shikamaru, Choji, Sai, Naruto, Shino, Lee, and Neji, so basically everyone but the sand siblings. They all said they would be there, so now I'm pretty pumped.

I ran into Sakura's house, unlocking the door with the key she gave me, "Hey, Ino where'd you go last night?" Sakura yelled, putting some waffle mix in the gridle, as Hinata and Tenten munched on some waffles.

"I told my dad goodbye, but then accidentally fell asleep." I replied, sitting down at her white wooden table.

"No need to worry, we all fell asleep almost right after you left." Hinata said, picking at the waffle piece by piece.

"Almost?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Well… We decided that you should get to know Gaara, and we should throw a party on our own." Tenten answered, throwing huge pieces into her mouth.

"Oh I'm ways ahead of you guys." I smirked proudly, Sakura turning her small pink head to look at me.

"What do you mean?" She asked, handing me a plate of warm fluffy waffles.

"Well. My dad is out of town, and the weird part is he even gave me permission to throw a party." I replied, rubbing butter over my waffle.

They all smiled and looked between each other. "Well. And who'd you all invite?"

"Everyone, except I didn't see the sand siblings, they should be arriving any time right?" I said, raising an eyebrow at Tenten who knew the answer to everything.

"Well, they should be coming in at noon, and its ten, and we NEED to go shopping for your sexy outfit Ino." She winked during saying that last part, still chomping down on her waffles.

I sighed heavily as I took some more bites, Sakura joining us at her table. "Well, after breakfast we're going shopping? I mean we should all have tons of money to go shopping with." Sakura stated, politely eating her waffle.

"Yeah, I guess so." Hinata said, the rest of us nodding and finishing up our waffles.

The rest of the girls finished up eating and got ready for going shopping. We all had debates on what we should wear, and we chose our outfits. We stepped out of the door and into the fresh Konoha air, "Where do you guys wanna go first?" I asked, looking around.

"Well. We all know there's only one store out there that has good clothing." Tenten stated, walking in the direction of that store.

We all laughed in agreement, knowing that there was only one clothing store in Konoha. Literally. Its name is _Clothing in Konoha, _I mean, how original is that? "Guys, what all are we buying?" I asked, looking over to all of them.

"Well, we're buying the costume for your _special_ appearance for Gaara's party." Tenten said, with a wide smirk on her face.

"Yeah, and some more clothes for ourselves, and maybe some nice date clothes for you and Gaara." Sakura stated, nudging me with her bony elbow.

"W-Wait, but shouldn't we all go to the salon for the party tonight, then maybe to the salon later in the week right before Gaaras party?" Hinata asked, pointing to the nice salon down the street.

"Well, that would be VERY nice." Sakura said, loudly sighing of just thinking about having a nice pedicure.

"Well then it's settled, we are going to go to the salon together, should we go there first or go shopping first?" I asked.

"We should go shopping first, since we're right next to the shop." Tenten said, pushing the door of _Clohting in Konoha _open, letting out a burst of cold air into the hot summery heat.

We were awfully amazed about all of the clothes in that shop, just like we always are. Sakura skitted over to the section of loose pink clothing, where her eyes grew wide with excitement as she grabbed like 50 shirts and ran off to the dressing room. Hinata trudged over to the section of clothing where they had giant loose sweatshirts and nice soft comfy clothing, she casually rubbed her face all over the clothes, getting the feel for how soft they were. Tenten threw herself over the section of loud, tight, and sexy clothing where she began to look through all of the low rise shirts. I walked casually through all of the sections, looking at what felt like millions of pieces of clothing. Sakura picked out a pair of pink heels and a light pink ruffle dress that came to her mid-thigh, also a ton of nice shirts that could be worn to anything, some jeans, and a pair of sneakers. Hinata picked out a pair of dark blue ballet flats, a nice light and dark blue strapless dress that was long in the back and short in the front, a bunch of soft comfy sweatshirts, a couple bows for her hair, a pair of loose jeans, and some flip-flops. Tenten came over to the counter with a huge smirk on her face, handing me a belly-dancer outfit.

"What the hell is this garbage?" I asked, looking at the stripper belly-dancer outfit.

"This 'garbage' is your outfit that you're dancing in for Gaara." Tenten stated, throwing it into my arms.

I caught it defiantly as Tenten payed for her tight strapless tight green dress with high-heels and many mini-skirts and sorts that were probably to short for her, plus like 50 super low t-shirts with a bunch of sandals and sneakers. "Is that all?" The lady at the front desk asked.

"No, I have some more items." I said, placing a ton of clothes and my outfit onto the counter. I bought some really pretty tank-tops, some sexy outfits like low shirts and mini-skirts like Tenten told me to get, some more nice shirts and jeans Sakura suggested, and a couple sweaters and a pair of sweats plus some sneakers and flip-flops from what Hinata wanted me to get. Plus an outfit for tonight's party, which I decided would be a pool party, which I would then take Gaara home with me. Perfect plan. Right? I sent out a traditional Yamanaka mind-jutsu message to all of the other guys to meet us at the Konoha pools up near the hotsprings at the same time I originally planned.

"Thank you, please come again!" The lady at the desk said, waving us out of the door with our millions of bags.

We all clumsily walked down to the salon, carrying our bags with us, "So, when is Gaara going to arrive?" Sakura asked, looking at me.

"I have no clue, but any minute now… What time is it?" I asked, looking around for a clock.

"12:30." Hinata said, placing all of our shopping bags in the corner of the salon.

I looked outside the window while we waited for the salon stations to be set up when all of the sudden I see three people walking down the dirt streets of Konoha, "Those are the… Sand Siblings! Guys I'll be right back." I said, walking out of the door and down to approach them.

"Hey, look who it is." I said with a smirk, coming to speak with Shikamarus manly girlfriend Temari. She was the oldest of the siblings but she sure didn't act like it.

Kankuro put on an almost pedophile as he took a step towards me, "Hey there Ino, you're looking… Fine today." He stated, trying to get one step closer before Gaara pulled him back.

"Kankuro, don't be rude." Gaara stepped down on one knee and took my hand and kissed it softly, his rough lips colliding with my soft hands, "I'm very sorry for my brothers' idiocy, but hello Ino Yamanaka, how do you do?"

I looked at him with wide eyes, 'What the hell is he doing?!' I thought, looking down at him awkwardly. "I'm g-good? How are you?" I asked offering him my hand to get up.

"I'm very fine, and no I don't need help." He stated, pulling himself up.

"BOTH OF YOU ARE COMPLETE IDIOTS." Temari yelled, hitting them harshly on the head. "Sorry Ino, you know how they are really…Thirsty for blondes, and seeing how you're the only blonde they know..."

"Oh… Um, okay?" I said awkwardly. 'They are the weirdest people ever…' I thought to myself as I suddenly remembered the party. "OH. And Temari, Gaara, and Kankuro, do you want to go to my party tonight? It's at the pool up at the hotsprings. It starts at 7 and goes until everyone goes home."

Kankuro and Gaara fought over who was going to tell me they were going first, when Temari stepped in front of both of them, "Yeah… We're coming all right. But is…" She trailed off course as she began to blush furiously.

"Yes," I smiled as I knew what she was going to ask, "Shikamaru is going to be there."

She smirked wildly as she tugged her brothers around me, leaving to go to their hotel room, "Thanks Ino!" Temari yelled, hitting Gaara and Kankuro on the heads, leaving me to do nothing but stand there and laugh.

I stood there for a second, watching Gaara's beautiful red hair glow under the hot summer sun. "Well, time to officially get ready for the party." I said to myself, turning around to return to the girls.


	3. Chapter 3

We all sat in the giant pedicure chairs as they scrubbed our feet. My toes felt like soft silk, all of the dead skin was rubbed away. "Oh, this feels amazing!" Sakura stated, wiggling her toes.

"What kind of design do you want?" The salon lady asked, pointing towards the design book and all of the colors.

"I… would like… Oh!" I thought about the perfect thing to put on my nails. "I would like the Kanji symbol for love."

"Just like on Gaara's forehead…" Hinata said, smiling as if my idea was perfect.

"Ok. Sounds like a plan. What colors would you like?" The salon lady asked, pointing once more towards the colors.

"Red backround, with black symbol." I said, thinking about Gaara's hair. Oh his hair. His hair is my favorite thing about him. The color just seems to attract your eyes. It's blood red, it seems to say he's strong, soft, caring, mysterious, honest, and loving. I loved his hair, it was amazing and perfect, I just wanted to touch it so badly.

The other girls could tell I was lost in thought, "Ino, are you okay?" Tenten asked, her big brown eyes placed on my dreamy face.

I snapped back into reality, "Yeah, I'm fine." I said, looking down at the salon lady painting the Kanji symbol for love on my big toe.

"What were you thinking about?" Sakura asked, her pink eyebrow raising to her huge forehead in curiosity.

"…His hair."

Apparently this was hilarious to Tenten, who burst out in loud laughter. "Well. Sounds like we're not forcing you to do this."

"No, it's not like I want to go and dance in front of him. Or date him, I mean he's creepy and so is his idiot brother. His hair is good, but the rest of him is horrible and so is his personality." I stated, thinking about him and Kankuro fighting over my blonde hair.

"Whatever." Tenten said, leaning back into her large comfy chair.

After spending another hour in there we finally left, and headed out back to my house to get ready for my party. "Hey, what kind of bikini do you want me to wear Tenten?" I asked, knowing she would be the one to pick it out.

"We need something bold and sexy, but not like something a total slut would wear… Hmm." She was thinking as I placed all of the bikini's I bought on my bed.

"That one!" Tenten pointed to a bikini in the middle of the bed. It was one of my favorites and it was beautiful. It had spaghetti straps for the shoulders, and it was a light blue and striped bikini, it had a golden ring to hold the left and right cups together, and the bottoms showed much ass (Just the way Tenten wanted it) and a little bow on each side of the hip.

"Oh I like that one." Sakura said, pointing at the same one Tenten picked.

"Well, the party starts in twenty minutes, and since we're the hosts we should get down there early, so lets go." I said, throwing my swimsuit and a towel into a bag. I wore shorts and a tanktop plus flipflops on the way there. Hinatas swimsuit was very pretty, it was a one piece swimsuit, that was black and white striped with a small red bow on the chest. Sakura's swimsuit definitely fit her style, a pink polka dotted swimsuit with a white button to hold the left and right cups together. Tenten brought an unexpected swimsuit, it was yellow and frilly, and it looked like a nice young lady would wear it, not Tenten.

"Tenten your swimsuit?..." I asked as we were walking to the hot springs.

"Well I don't want Neji to think I'm a whore…" She said, her cheeks flushing a rosy red.

"I think it looks very nice." Hinata said, smiling brightly.

As we arrived to the pools, thank god no one was there yet. The other girls and I creeped into the girls rooms to change into our swimsuits. As we were slipping our swimsuits on we heard a crashing noise and a bark, with some buzzing. "I think Kiba and Shino are here." I said, listening closely.

Sakura blushed slightly, "Kiba-kun?"

Hinata giggled sweetly, "Yes Sakura, Kiba is here."

Another huge crashing sound louder than the one before, and some small footsteps this time. "Hinata look who it is, Naruto and Sai." Tenten said, smirking slightly.

We suddenly hear running and jumping, "I WILL USE MY POWER OF YOUTH TO SWIM." I guessed that was Lee, then I heard a loud sigh.

I smirked deviously and looked over at Tenten who was brushing her hair, "Hehe, look it's Neji."

Tenten stopped brushing enough to listen to Neji telling Lee to shut up. Not too long after that My hair was up in its usual ponytail, when the girls bathroom door creaked open. "I SWEAR TO GOD, NARUTO IF THAT'S YOU TRYING TO GET A LOOK AT US I'M GOING TO KICK YOUR ASS." Tenten screamed as the flustered Temari walked through the door.

"Sorry, I sould've said who it was." Temari said, throwing her swimming bag onto the bench next to mine.

"It's fine, we've just had too many instances where Naruto is peeping on all of us." I said, trying to hook the back of my bikini.

"Baka, I think it's a little small." Sakura said, hooking my bikini tightly.

Tenten smirked, "Perfect…"

I looked over at Tenten, "But it's making me look fat." I said, looking down at the small bikini.

"No, it's making your boobs stand out, which is perfect." Tenten said, Temari looking at her curiously.

"Why?" Temari asked, in which Tenten told her our plan with Gaara. "PERFECT!" Temari yelled, laughing loudly. We all looked at eachother awkwardly, "Gaara, hasn't had this much fun in a long time, and who knows he might actually come to love her." Temari said as she walked out of the bathroom in a strapless red bikini.

We all followed her to see Shikamaru and Choji just walking in the door, "Pools… How troublesome." Shikamaru said, rolling his black eyes skeptically.

"C'mon, it'll be fun." Temari said winking at him, in which he blushed back and went to change into his swimsuit with Choji.

We all opened the door to the outdoor pool to see no one there but Naruto and Sai. "Hey ladies!" Naruto said eagerly, waving some of them to come over to them.

"As if." Sakura said, jumping into the lone end of the pool. Hinata loyally followed her as Temari and I got into the hot tub.

Neji came out right as we got in. Him and Lee plus Tenten into the pool, and stood there talking amongst themselves as Lee swam around them. "Hey Lee, you're getting water everywhere!" Tenten said, Neji nodding in agreement.

Kiba and Shino came out to join Sakura and Hinata. "Hey Kiba-kun!" Sakura said, smilng widely at his appearance as him and Shino got into the pool and stood right next to Hinata and Sakura.

Shikamaru burst out of the door smiling with Temari in his arms, Choji following them into the hot tub and sat down next to us.

Kankuro came out with none of his face paint on and I will say he looked different, better, but not by a lot. He sat down next to Temari and Shika, as Gaara opened the door. "Oh my…" I gawked as he stood in the doorway.

His abs were amazing, and they went surprisingly well with his pale skin. His hair was rough but perfect looking, and his eyes were glowing with kindness. His smile was a half smile, and was so sexy I couldn't handle it. The hot tub was pretty big and he could've sat anywhere but he decided to sit right next to me and lean back against the stone edge of the tub, his arm muscles bulging immensely. "Hey Ino." He said in a soft tone, looking over at my bright ocean blue eyes.

I tried to look as if I didn't care that he was talking to me, but I'm not sure if that worked, "Hey Gaara." I said, smirking up towards the night sky.

This is basically how the night went: The water was nice and warm and we had a great time. I could see that Lee was slightly annoying everyone, but no one really minded. I stood at the pool and talked to Sakura when out of nowhere Gaara picked me up and threw me into the pool where he jumped with me, Naruto soon swayed Hinata to come and talk to him. Sai was really busy painting them two together, and no one asked any questions, but the painting was beautiful. Shino bugs went everywhere, causing a commotion with Sakura and Kiba. Neji and Tenten were talking and laughing flirtatiously, which was so cute. Shikamaru and Temari never left eachothers sides, and kissed eachother continuously. Kankuro and Gaara pulled tricks on me all night, which was slightly amusing. Choji just sat there awkwardly and ate food, when he accidentally got them in the water the owner flipped out and told him not to eat food in here ever again while the owner cleaned it up. We all were swimming at one point, and we were all looking at eachother underwater which was beautiful and amazing, the water made Gaara's features stick out even more. We all went back to our original spots after awhile when Tenten pulled me apart for a second, "How's it going Ino?" She asked, nodding her head in Gaara's direction.

"It's going good I think, I mean were flirting a lot and at one point he accidentally grabbed my boob." I said laughing, remembering him tripping and landing on top of me with his hand on my boob.

"That's great, keep up the good work and we will all be happy with partners and loved ones forever." She said sappily, looking at Neji in the edge of her eyes.

For about twenty minutes we all talked and laughed and had a great time, we all drank sake and I think some of us might've been drunk. Shika carried Temari away, going to do gods know what. Naruto had invited Sai and Hinata to go eat Ramen, just like typical Naruto. Shino went home because he said his bugs were getting lonely or some bull shit excuse like that, in which Sakura took the chance to go take Kiba star gazing I think. Lee, Neji, and Tenten all left together, Lee and Neji probably to train and Tenten to go to the bar. I looked at Choji was said he had a curfew, and that his mom would get mad at him if he didn't get to it. He was probably making that up to leave just because Shikamaru had left. So there I was with Kankuro and Gaara sitting next to me.

"So… What's it like being the Kazekage?" I asked, looking over at Gaara who I think had one too many drinks.

"Uh.. Busy." He smirked and looked at me lazily, his face drooping slightly.

"I'm gonna head home Ino, I don't want Temari having sex with that lazy dirtbag." Kankuro said, running into the bathroom to get his things.

"Ino, I think you're mighty purdy." Gaara said, pointing a drunk finger at me.

"Gaara, are you okay?" I asked, him replying with fainting, his face going into the water.


	4. Chapter 4

Well, someone left a review that I should try do this story in third person? Well I think that's a pretty good idea, so I'm gonna try and do this chapter in third person perspective and see if I like more or if I just want to stick with first person.

Ino gasped loudly and scrambled to get his face out of the water, his red hair sparkling. She wasn't quite sure what to do so she took his out of the water and made sure he was at least breathing. He wasn't. "Oh shit." Ino mumbled, her mind moving at a million miles per hour. She put her hands together and pumped his chest 10 times, she wasn't quite sure how many times to do chest compressions so she just guessed. When she finished the chest compressions she winced for a second then mouth to his, breathing in and out slowly. After breathing in and out five times she returned to doing chest compressions. After a minute or two she thought she had killed the Kazekage, but a couple seconds after that thought rushed through her mind he coughed up some water and started breathing. "Gaara?!" Ino yelled, looking at his big blue eyes blankly.

"I-Ino.." He breathed before passing out again.

"At least he's breathing…" She sighed, throwing him onto her back.

He weighed her down quite a bit as she went to get the rest of her clothes. She put some clothes on quickly and just left the rest of the clothes there, putting Gaara back on her back. As she walked out of the hotsprings she looked up at the night sky, the stars twinkling back at her. The wind was slightly breezy, chilling her whole body. Her wet bikini stuck to her clothing, leaving embarrassing wet spots all over her clothes. Her hair chilled her head fully, the water dripping from the tip of it. Her legs ached as she rounded the corner to her house. She smiled lightly as she walked up the steps to her house, the old steps creaking loudly. She searched through her pockets and looked for her keys when she realized they were in her other shorts. "Mnm…" Gaara mumbled, his whole body sliding off of her.

She slid down the wall and sat against her door, sitting an unconscious Gaara in her lap. She looked up at the sky again and shivered, then looked at the half naked Gaara who only had his black trunks on. She took off her shirt and laid it over him. She wrapped her arms around him as she closed her eyes, sleep falling over her. "What the?..." she said as she felt drops of rain on her forehead. Her eyes opened slowly to see clouds of gray and the sun rising. I raised my hand up to the door knob to jiggle it in frustration only to see it turn as her and Gaara fell back into her doorway. "Oh my fucking god.." she grumbled, picking up Gaara and dragging him to her couch. She looked down at his body to see him shivering there. She threw a couple of blankets over him and tucked him in carefully, turning up the heat in her house. She went upstairs and changed into dry clothes and grabbed a couple more blankets. She walked downstairs casually and threw some apple cider on the stove. As it heated up she threw more blankets over him and looked at his soft face. He looked so peaceful as he slept, as if there was nothing wrong with the world. She ran her fingers through his hair to see it was so soft and so… perfect. His eyes fluttered open silently as he looked me in eyes.

"Ugh… Where am I?" He asked, looked at me confusedly.

"Oh, well you passed out and I carried you home." I said, blushing lightly.

"I… Passed… Out? He asked, wiping his forehead dully.

"Yeah, I think you drank too much." She said, going to take the cider off of the stove.

"That explains the massive headache." He said, rubbing his forehead more.

"Want some medicine or something?" She asked, handing him a cup of cider as she sat down in a chair and sipped from a snowman mug.

'No, I think it'll pass soon." He said, sipping from his Christmas tree mug.

"Oh." She replied awkwardly, drinking more of her apple cider and combing her long blonde hair with her fingers.

"I'm not feeling that great… mind if I stay at your house for the night? I can call Temari and Kankuro." He said, pulling the blankets towards his head more.

"Yeah no problem, I'll just call the girls." She walked over to Gaara to feel his forehead to see it was burning hot. "I think you have a fever, I can take care of you if you want?" She offered, taking her dainty hands off of his burning forehead.

He turned his red face towards her, "That would be so amazing." His big sparkling blue eyes looked towards hers and he smiled slightly, it was very adorable.

She picked up the phone a dialed Sakura's home number. After a couple of rings she picked up, "Hello?"

"Hey Sakura, its Ino."

"Oh hey Ino, what's up?"

"I'm not feeling that great… Is it okay if I stay home?" Ino lied, looking over at the sick Kazekage.

"Yeah it's totally fine, the other girls decided to have this as a stay home day too." Sakura replied.

"Oh thanks Sakura, I'll see you later." Ino finished, hanging up after Sakura and her said goodbye.

For the rest of the day she piled on more blankets, because Gaara had one of those flus where he was sweating but he was shivering. At one point he was so cold he begged for her to climb under the blankets for body heat, in which she couldn't refuse. She lay under the blanket awkwardly and then accidentally fell asleep. She was sure he didn't mind; when she woke up he was even smiling. She stayed under the blanket with him and watched cheesy shinobi movies as they laughed and drank more cider and coffee. After they watched movies they played truth or dare; which usually means ask dating questions, and dare awkward sexual things.

"Truth or dare?" She asked, giggling sweetly.

"Truth." He said, looking at me nervously.

"…Do you like being the Kazekage?" She questioned.

"Well I like protecting the village, so yeah I like being the Kazekage; I just don't like all of the duties I have to fulfill… Truth or dare?" He looked over at me smirking.

"Truth."

"Do you love any guy? Like relationships?" Both of us blushed as he asked this question.

"Do I love any guy? No, I do have a slight crush. And I guess I could learn to love someone. Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to…" She was stuck.

"Can't think of anything?"

"Nope." She laughed lightly.

"Well, truth or dare?" He asked.

"Truth."

"Who do you have a crush on?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to answer the question."

She sighed and looked up at him, "Well… I have a crush on you."


	5. Chapter 5

He blushed lightly and looked at her with a questioning face, "Really?"

"Y-Yeah…" She stuttered

"Well I have to um… go… Temari must be worried." He slipped out from under the covers and left her with the thought the she screwed up.

"Oh god." She moaned as he shut the door and left her house. "WHAT HAVE I DONE?" She walked over to the phone gloomily and picked it up slowly. She slammed Sakura's digits with her thumb and waited for her to reply.

"Hello, this is Sakura, sorry I couldn't get to the phone at the moment please leave a message."

_Beep_.

"Hey Sakura, this is Ino… and I think I screwed up really badly this time, call me?"

Ino started to walk back to her bedroom as the phone started to ring from the kitchen. She turned around and walked back to the phone and picked it up, "Ino this is Sakura, what happened?"

Ino explained the whole story finishing with a long sigh, "Sakura, I think he hates me."

Sakura gave a long sigh before she answered, "I was wondering why Gaara was walking down the street in the rain only in his swim trunks… Anywho, I think you should just wait until Naruto's party tomorrow to talk to him and then we can um… go from there? I'm not a love guru, you know."

"Yeah I know, so what happened after you left last night with Kiba to go star gazing?"

Sakura laughed straight for the next minute, "Oh my, Ino you actually believed that?"

Awkward silence persisted for a moment before Ino caught onto what happened after they left.

"YOU DIDN'T."

"Oh, I did."

"W-Was it awkward?"

"Not at all."

"Wow, sometimes I envy you Sakura. I mean, you're having sex with the guy you love and I've never even been kissed before." Ino said with a sigh as she leaned on her elbow.

"Well that might change soon." Sakura giggled and hung up, leaving Ino to be more confused than ever.

'_Does he like me? I think he hates me. I don't even know, maybe I scared him away. It was so sudden maybe I should've just lied and said I still liked Sasuke.'_ She thought to herself, laying on her bed wallowing in her own pity. '_What if he would've moved on if I said that, or yelled at me. What if he already told Temari, who told Shikamaru. Oh no, the whole village will know soon.'_

_Knock knock._

Ino got out of bed lazily and started walking downstairs.

Knock knock.

"I'M COMING." She shouted, throwing the door open.

Standing in the doorway was none other than Gaara himself, soaked in rain, wearing a handsome tuxedo, holding out flowers. "I wanted to ask you in a more, um, formal way."

"A-Ask me what?" She stuttered, signaling for him to come inside.

She took his flowers and put them in a vase as he explained, "Well earlier, as we both know, I kind've ran off…-"

"Kind've? I thought you hated me!" She threw an empty plastic bottle at him.

He threw up his hands to block the empty bottle, "Ino-chan I'm sorry, I just…"

"You just WHAT?" All of her rage and anger about the whole situation were starting to boil over the top.

"I just wanted to ask you to date tonight." He said it so quickly she stood in shock for a moment.

"You w-what?" She stammered slightly.

"Tonight, I will take you out to wherever you want to go." He tried to smile but it was a little awkward, it was easy to tell he didn't smile a lot.

"And why couldn't you ask me earlier?" She was a little less mad.

"I was too embarrassed to do it at the time." He rubbed the back of his neck slowly.

"I see, so where do you want to go?" She asked politely, which was unusual for her.

"Wherever you want to go." He tried to be all cute for her, because it was clear he really liked her, but of course she was oblivious.

"Well I'm not sure; they only just rebuilt everything in Konoha." (Ok well I'm going to explain that the date right now is during the 4th great shinobi war, and I'm just going to make this super cracked up, that they actually have a break from war. So I know you aren't going to like that idea, but I'm only doing it so I can continue the fanfic after a while. Most fanfics stop right after everything happens, but I would like to think that some of them don't.)

"I see… Maybe we could ask someone." She put a couple towels on her couch so he could sit down.

"I'm gonna go call Sakura and get ready, so make yourself at home." She walked calmly upstairs and grabbed her home phone then ran into her run and jumped up and down excitedly.

She dialed Sakura's phone number, "Ino, what now?"

"Gaara came back in a tuxedo and asked me on a date." Ino said while rummaging through her closet.

"He did?! How exciting." Sakura exclaimed over the phone.

"I know right? And he asked me where we should go, but I have no idea." She picked out an outfit and laid it on her bed.

"Hmm…. How about you go walk on the outside of the village, under the cherry blossom trees." She suggested while Ino put on her outfit.

"Yeah good idea, thanks, I'll talk to you tomorrow." Ino hung up on Sakura after she said bye and searched for her pink rainboots. She found them in her closet and slipped them on, wrapping a matching pink scarf around her neck over her pink jacket and stretchy black tights. She grabbed her big black umbrella and walked down stairs to see Gaara watching the news. "Having fun there?"

"Just seeing how the war is doing without the Kazekage."

"Oh, well you might wanna get out of your tuxedo, we're going to go take a walk on the edge of town." Ino said as Gaara got up from the couch.

"Oh _thank god_. This is tuxedo is extremely uncomfortable, you wouldn't happen to have any clothes for me?" He asked while untying his black dress shoes.

"I'll go check my dad's closet." She said, walking back up the stairs and through her dad and mom's room to look for something that Gaara could wear.

She searched until she found a plaid red flannel, some old jeans, and some brown boots. "Found you some clothes." She called down, him walking up the stairs to get the clothes.

"Where can I change?" He asked politely.

Ino left the room and shut her door on the way, "You can change in here; I'll be down stairs waiting."

"Okay…" He responded, coming downstairs about a minute or two later.

"You ready for the date?" She asked while looking at him with a big smile and a big black umbrella in her hand.

"I think so." He sighed nervously, opening the door into the pouring down rain.


End file.
